Ah, "science" in action....

BBC News | AMERICAS | Q&A: The US and climate change

Why has the US refused to go along with international efforts?

As the world's biggest polluter, no real dent in global warming can be made without the US.

The US contains 4% of the world's population but produces about 25% of all carbon dioxide emissions. By comparison, Britain emits 3% - about the same as India which has 15 times as many people.

...

The average American produces six tonnes of carbon dioxide, the average Briton three tonnes, a Chinese 0.7 tonnes and an Indian 0.25 tonnes.

Oh my, how horrific of us. They also say....

US industry is largely dependent on coal and oil, the fuels that produce the most carbon dioxide.

May I have nuclear energy? Please???

According to the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, pre-industrial (1860) concentrations of carbon dioxide were 288 parts per million, while the figure for 2001 was 369.4ppm. (Read report here.)

So that's...what...an increase of around 28-29%? Where'd it come from?

Well, according to the UN, specifically their World Meteorological Organization, we're to blame for it all, damn our human-animal hides. However, they also say...

Carbon dioxide is released to the atmosphere by a variety of sources, and over 95% percent of these emissions would occur even if human beings were not present on Earth. [Emphasis mine.]

According to their report (actually another Q&A sheet), we nasty, vermin-like humans contribute around 3% of the carbon dioxide cranked into the air each year. This is sufficent to "exceed the balancing effect of [natural] sinks" (natural processes by which carbon dioxide is scrubbed from the air).

That's a powerful 3%. If the US of A were to completely eliminate its production of carbon dioxide (which would certainly make a "real dent"), humans would still contribute some 2.25%, and that's enough to overwhelm them there sinks, and that's all she wrote. Does it have to be said that this is why the Kyoto treaty was tossed out the window? It is meaningless, while at the same time crippling to the US economy.

Besides, I really resent the BBC characterization of the United States as "the world's biggest polluter." Perhaps the author(s) should go to this site and check out the pollution levels in major Chinese cities. The air in Beijing (and all the others) makes Los Angeles (and even Tokyo) look downright healthy by comparison.